Section 5: Right of way

An owner whose land is enclosed and who has no access, or insufficient access, to the public highway, either for the agricultural, industrial or commercial use of his property, or for the completion of construction or subdivision operations, is entitled to claim a right of way over his neighbours’ land sufficient to ensure that his land is fully served, subject to compensation proportionate to the damage he may cause.

The passage must regularly be taken on the side where the path is shortest from the enclosed land to the public highway. Nevertheless, it must be fixed in the place least harmful to the person on whose land it is granted.

If the enclave results from the division of land as a result of a sale, exchange, partition or any other contract, passage may only be requested over the land which was the subject of these acts. However, in the event that a sufficient passage cannot be established on the divided land, article 682 would apply.

The basis and mode of the easement of passage by reason of enclave shall be determined by thirty years of continuous use. The action for compensation, in the case provided for in Article 682, is time-barred, and the passage may be continued, although the action for indemnity is no longer admissible.

If the enclave ceases to exist and regardless of how the basis and mode of the easement were determined, the owner of the servient land may, at any time, invoke the extinction of the easement if the servicing of the dominant land is ensured under the conditions of Article 682. Failing an amicable agreement, this disappearance is established by a court decision.